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Retirement Plans Newsletter

April 25, 2023

4 New Job Opportunities 4 New Job Opportunities

 

[Guidance Overview]

The Brave New World of Self-Correction

"Plan sponsors and advisers will need further specific direction from IRS in order to navigate the new self-correction landscape.... [1] What comprises an 'eligible inadvertent failure' and the degree to which inadvertence relates to the criteria of pre-existing practices and procedure for proper plan administration? ... [2] What is meant by completing self-correction within a reasonable time after discovery of the error? ... [3] How closely must the proposed correction method conform to existing EPCRS correction methods, or otherwise conform to correction principles under the Code, in order to be eligible for self-correction?"  MORE >>

E is for ERISA

[Sponsor]

ERISApedia.com – Affordable Library of ERISA Compliance and Research Solutions.

Our Technical eSources are written by Nationally Recognized Authors offering a wide range of Insights. E-Sources include previously asked and answered questions by S.Derrin Watson, JD, APM. Contact us at: sales@erisapedia.com or 612-605-2266

Sponsored by ERISApedia

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Proposed Forfeiture Regs

"The proposed guidance ... synthesizes (and updates the existing regulation to reflect) guidance previously found in Revenue Rulings, an IRS newsletter, and certain changes to the Internal Revenue Code, made during the last 35 years ... The proposed regulation would also generally clarify and extend what had been previously understood to be the deadline for 'zeroing out' forfeiture accounts under defined contribution plans."  MORE >>

Mayer Brown

Defined Contribution Plan Governance Models: A Guide for Plan Sponsors (PDF)

12 pages. "This paper explores various governance models that are used by DC plan sponsors and explains the key players, common fiduciary and settlor decisions, and considerations that may help plan sponsors choose a governance model suitable for their organization."  MORE >>

Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association [DCIIA]

A 401(k) Plan Sponsor Fiduciary Puzzle: Are Low Fees High Risk?

"Most 401k plan sponsors ... don't have the time or expertise to administer their company's retirement plan. They need to hire professional experts to help them. If they skimp on fees, are they also skimping on the fiduciary protection those professionals are supposed to provide? ... [S]ome are asking if there's a point when fees might go too low. If we reach this point, what happens to the amount of service provided to 401k plan sponsors? And how close are we to reaching this threshold?"  MORE >>

Fiduciary News; free registration required

Stakeholder Conflicts, Contradictions Pose Challenges to Data Sharing and Privacy Policy for Financial Wellness Services

"The industry has long struggled with determining when it is appropriate to share plan and participant data and what data to share in financial wellness services. The recently concluded SPARK/DCIIA research demonstrated that greater alignment is needed among all stakeholders to meet the demand of American workers for more help and advice on retirement savings and financial wellbeing."  MORE >>

The SPARK Institute

Auto-Solutions Continued to Positively Influence 401(k) Savings Behavior in 2022, Even Amid Market Uncertainties (PDF)

"[P]lan adoption of auto-enrollment rose in 2022 to 85% ... [A]uto-enrollment continued to yield far higher participation rates: 86% in 2022, compared with just 37% for plans without auto-enrollment.... [T]he average combined employee deferral rate remained relatively flat in 2022, down just slightly from 8.5% in 2021 to 8.4% in 2022 ... Plan adoption of Roth contributions increased from 83% in 2021 to 87% in 2022."  MORE >>

T. Rowe Price

Living Past Age 100 Will Force Major Changes to Savings Mindset

"[Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines LLC] suggested reevaluating the 60/40 portfolio and investing in exponential technology.... 'The notion of 60% of your money in stocks, 40% bonds is gone, because we're going to live much longer,' Edelman said. 'You need to have 70/30 or 80/20. You need to do it for much older, because you're going to live so much longer.' "  MORE >>

planadviser

14% of U.S. Public Pension Plans Had Funded Ratios of 60% or Lower in 2022

"7% of US public pension plans had funded ratios of 50% or less. Only 12% had funded ratios of 100% or more.... [T]he average funded ratio for U.S. public pension plans was 77.89% in 2022, and collectively they had Total Accrued Liabilities of $6.369 trillion, and total Unfunded Liabilities of $1.445 trillion."  MORE >>

Ortec Finance

Federal Thrift Savings Plan Participant Behavior and Demographics, 2017-2021 (PDF)

13 pages. "Information from this analysis provides insight on demographics, investment behaviors, and how plan design changes may have influenced participation and contribution behaviors. Finally, this analysis helps identify trends with participant usage of benefit options."  MORE >>

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board [FRTIB]

[Opinion]

Exceptional Usefulness and Quality icon The Right to a Jury Trial in ERISA Excessive Fee Cases

"Courts are making no effort to go beyond the arcane legal-versus-equitable test from the common law in England.... [Defendant's] Memorandum in support of the Emergency Motion to Certify Interlocutory Appeal in the Yale case ... does an excellent job in highlighting the significant prejudice to plan sponsors if unsophisticated juries will decide fiduciary imprudence cases.... Based on the inconsistent case law to date, most federal judges are unqualified to second-guess plan fiduciaries. But a panel of local citizens is definitely unqualified." [Vellali v. Yale Univ., No. 16-1345 (D. Conn. Mar. 17, 2023)]  MORE >>

Euclid Specialty Managers

[Opinion]

California Proposing Modest Annuity Reform (So of Course the Industry Is Freaking Out)

"According to the authors ... SB 263 will protect consumers ... from potential abuse and exploitation ... by requiring producers to consider only the interests of the consumer in making a recommendation ... SB 263 will also ... [prohibit] insurance producers from receiving incentives beyond allowable commissions or fees (such as prizes, rent reimbursement, etc.) for their sales ... Rule of Thumb: The more the insurance industry freaks out about legislation the better it is for consumers."  MORE >>

403bwise

[Opinion]

Social Security's Financial Outlook: The 2023 Update in Perspective

"The 'Missing Trust Fund,' a result of paying excess benefits to early generations, provides a strong case for some general revenue financing. Workers would contribute the amount required in a funded system, and general revenues would compensate for the 'Missing Interest.' Thus, the historical burden would be distributed more broadly, but the sense that workers pay for their own benefits would remain."  MORE >>

Alicia H. Munnell, via Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

Benefits in General

[Official Guidance]

IRS Disaster Relief Notice OK-2023-01, for Victims of Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds and Tornadoes in Oklahoma

"Victims of severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes in Oklahoma from April 19 to April 20, now have until August 31, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments ... [I]ndividuals and households ... that reside or have a business in McClain and Pottawatomie counties qualify for tax relief."  MORE >>

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Analyst I or II
            for Minnesota Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement

Analyst I or II

Minnesota Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement

Saint Paul MN / Hybrid

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator
            for Karel-Gordon & Associates

Retirement Plan Administrator

Karel-Gordon & Associates

Remote / IL

View job as Retirement Plan Administrator for Karel-Gordon & Associates

View job as Retirement Plan Consultant
            for DWC – The 401(k) Experts

Retirement Plan Consultant

DWC – The 401(k) Experts

Remote

View job as Retirement Plan Consultant for DWC – The 401(k) Experts

View job as Actuarial Analyst
            for Definiti LLC

Actuarial Analyst

Definiti LLC

Remote

View job as Actuarial Analyst for Definiti LLC

Selected New Discussions

Small Plan, Employees Provided False SSN

"There is a small 401(k) Plan for a company where several employees provided false SSN in order to collect paychecks, etc. The company did not verify and as some time had passed, the employees that provided false SSN were able to get into the Plan. The company made contributions on their behalf. The Plan itself deems "non-resident aliens" are ineligible from entering the Plan. It was found out that said employees were in fact not of legal status to be in the United States. (Still receiving further details.) Would the employees just receive their contributions to the Plan, their contributions with the employer's contribution, and what would they be entitled to? I am seeing some cases where employees that fraudulently self-identified because of immigration/legal status had to go through Civil Claims."

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Trust Accounting for a Pooled Plan

"We have a plan that we took over as part of a business acquisition some years ago; it is profit sharing only with pooled/trustee directed investment accounts. They went from SF reporting to full 5500 with Schedule H and an audit in the year we took over. They have 4 different investment accounts, 3 are with mutual funds and ETFs with 15 to 20 positions, and 1 with 100+ individual securities (fortunately not a lot of trading in that account).... [In] 2022 they moved money (not just cash but fund transfers in kind) and it became a full blown nightmare.  ... [H]ow common would you say it is to have a 100+ life plan that is not on a platform?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Press Releases

DOL Appoints Jack Towarnicky, Member of Aequum LLC, to ERISA Advisory Council

aequum LLC

MissionSquare Retirement Board of Directors Appoints Deanna J. Santana Acting CEO and President

MissionSquare Retirement

Webcasts and Conferences
(Retirement Plans / Executive Compensation)

401(k) Loan and Distribution Basics

RECORDED

Nova 401(k) Associates

Stock Comp Bootcamp For Financial Advisors

May 3, 2023 WEBINAR

myStockOptions.com

SECURE 2.0: Mistakes Happen: Easier Corrections & Recoupment

May 31, 2023 WEBINAR

Thompson Hine LLP

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

SECURE Act 2.0 Provisions Impacting Employee Benefit Plans

Moss Adams LLP

Use of Forfeitures in Defined Contribution Plans

Kilpatrick Townsend

Is the HSA a Health or a Retirement Savings Benefit?

planadviser

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BenefitsLink® Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.

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